Messages aim to promote pension saving to the self-employed

A government-backed pension provider is trialling emotive messages to nudge sole traders to start retirement saving.

The messages from NEST aim to persuade the self-employed to sign up for pensions through payment or accountancy platforms or trade and industry bodies.

Four messages are being tested to encourage savings behaviour, including ‘could you save £2.50 a day?’.

‘Flexible pension options for the self-employed’ attempts to emphasise they can pay what they can, when they can.

Loss-avoidance messages, such as ‘a tax-free way to save for retirement’ and ‘don’t miss out on pension returns’, are the other messages being trialled.

NEST polled 2,000 self-employed people, finding 24% save into a pension – and 74% recognise the importance of doing so.

It also found self-employed people look at pension saving in a different way to employees.

More than three quarters (76%) have some form of savings or investment, and 68% are using these to save for the long-term.

The report said:

“This points to a conceptual difference in the way self-employed people regard pensions and retirement, compared to employees.

“They tend to save for the long-term rather than a specific age or period of life, and use a wide range of savings vehicles including savings accounts, ISAs and property, as well as pensions.”

For further information on pension savings, please contact James Alesbury on 023 8046 1222.